Be Very Afraid
by Sonny at Twilight
Summary: Five years in the future, and there's a murderer on the loose killing people, all of whom are from Condor Studios. Now Sonny is finding out that no one, not even herself or her friends, are safe. Better, longer summary/trailer inside. xHIATUSx
1. Prologue and Trailer

**Happy almost-Halloween.  
So, I haven't been on fanfiction very much lately, but I was on it awhile ago and saw that a few people were doing Halloween specials (sorry, I haven't had time to read any of them). And I really wanted to do one, but I couldn't for the life of me think of a plot, much less a villain/killer, so I figured, okay, forget it. Then, like a week later, I suddenly had a thought of who the villain/killer could be (don't worry, I'm not giving it away), and I started formulating a plot, and now we've come full circle.  
So it is a murder mystery type, and as it says on all of three of the banners I made while I was putting off writing this (links are on my profile. Look if you want-I only made them for fun), no one is safe. Meaning, people from **_**So Random**_** and **_**Mackenzie Falls**_** will die. Not all, but some.  
Which brings me to the rating. My first T-rated story. Alright so here's the deal. This story is still as clean as a K+ story as far as cuss words and everything else goes. The reason for the rating bump is the murder scenes, which really don't get too graphic or descriptive because going into too much detail is too much for me, despite my love for horror movies. I didn't write every murder scene in here because there are too many, but I didn't want to leave so much to the imagination.  
****And now my last point in this super-duper long Author's Note is, I didn't come up with the idea for this until last Sunday, the 25****th****. So, I've been slaving away all week, trying and trying to get it done, and it is mostly done. I'll be working on it all night and probably part of tomorrow so that I can post all of it on Halloween (I hope). My reason for telling you this is so you know this shouldn't be prolonged after Halloween. I'll be working super hard so that it'll be finished and posted tomorrow.**

**Okay, so here's the trailer and prologue. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Sonny with a Chance**_**. **

**--------**

Trailer

Sonny Munroe walked across the college's front lawn and towards her car in the parking lot.

"See you next year, Sonny," a girl across the parking lot from Sonny called.

Sonny smiled and waved and got into her small car to go home.

*****Sonny at Twilight Productions Presents *****

Sonny opened up the door to her apartment and immediately her roommate grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in.

"Sonny, have you seen the news?" her roommate, Lisa, rushed out.

"No, why?" Sonny replied.

*****A Halloween Special*****

Lisa pointed at the TV screen to the breaking news headline.

Sonny looked at the screen and covered her mouth in horror.

*****Condor Studios is having a reunion*****

"As soon as I'm old enough and have the time, I'm also getting a special license for driving forklifts _and_ a pilot's license," Zora said with a slightly devious smile on her face.

----

"Well this is horrible! I packed white clothes to wear!" Tawni pulled off her sunglasses and pointed the folded up pair at Sonny. "Do you know how awful blood looks on white clothes?"

----

"Oh this. It's my CDC Decoy."

Sonny snorted. "Is that patented?"

----

"Eh, it's fine. Like I said, there's barely a red mark that'll go away pretty soon."

"Great," Chad said with sarcasm saturating his tone again. "Thanks for the assault."

"No problem."

*****That **_**everyone**_** comes to*****

"You're really still going to that reunion thing? Even with Marissa and that kid from _So Random_ both skewered within twenty-four hours?" Jamie asked incredulously.

----

"So, let me get this straight. I came to a stupid reunion special so Condor Studios can make more money off my talent only to find out that there's some psychotic killer that's doing away with people from Condor Studios?" Tawni shrieked, her voice climbing towards dog whistle pitch with every word.

*****There is no pattern*****

"No, there isn't any more," Zora replied.

"Age doesn't matter, gender doesn't matter, and our past TV show we worked on doesn't matter either," Sonny stated grimly.

"Wait, so does that mean that even though I'm pretty, I could still be killed?" Tawni asked.

Zora and Sonny nodded.

Tawni grabbed a nearby blanket and threw it over her head for protection.

"In that case, I'm out of here," Chad said on his way to the door.

*****Everyone's a suspect*****

"I'm just glad I'm only a security guard here. If I were an actor I'd be on the next plane out. And if you all were smart, you'd do the same," Murphy said as he dropped the safe pizza in front of Nico, letting it land on the table with a thud.

----

Sonny stared at Chad with wide eyes and slowly backed away from him.

"What?" Chad asked.

----

"Dakota Condor?"

Dakota (who was now fourteen years old) smiled and waved at her old acquaintances.

----

"I could never be the killer," Tawni assured the threesome. "Blood is gross and plus I'd have to do so much work."

*****And no one is safe*****

A flicker of motion in her peripheral caused Sonny to look up, and reflected in the mirror in front of her was the killer, standing no more than five feet behind her.

----

Sitting with her knees brought up to her chest, Tawni hugged her legs and rocked back and forth on the ground, having the equivalent of a breakdown.

*****In*****

"Now everyone give me your 100 watt smiles," the photographer said. "Really blow the fuses with those bright smiles of yours," he added with a shaky laugh.

They put on forced smiles and suddenly the lights all shut off.

The photographer laughed nervously again as he clutched his camera. "Wow, those were _some_ smiles, guys."

*******_**Be**_** *****

Sonny's eyes widened. "Uh, Chad, as sweet as you're being, could you stop?"

Chad backed up, looking confused. "Why?"

"Well, uh…" Sonny put her hands on his shoulders and spun him around so he could see what she saw.

"Oh shoot."

*******_**Very**_** *****

"I don't want to be next!" Tawni yelled into the darkness as she clung to Sonny like saran wrap.

"We're both next!" Sonny responded.

"You first!"

*******_**Afraid**_*******

Sonny turned around and when she saw the killer bring out the gleaming knife she screamed at the top of her lungs.

----

Portlyn saw something in the corner move and let out a high-pitched scream.

----

Tawni, Portlyn, Chad, and Sonny all immediately jumped into a cluster again and screamed out of fear.

----

Tawni clamped her hands over her ears and screamed loudly.

*****Coming to a computer screen near you*****

Sonny struggled against their grip but immediately stopped when the knife came up to her throat as a threat.

"Who are you?" she bit out angrily in a low voice.

The killer smiled underneath their mask. "You'll never know."

*****October 31st, 2009*****

"Sonny, what does it feel like to have a nervous breakdown?" Tawni asked in a small voice.

----

"Be _very_ afraid."

**--------**

Prologue

Usually she had to be hard at work on her TV show in Condor Studios. Not tonight, though. Tonight she was a twenty year old, free woman, and she was going to… _try_…to enjoy it… while it lasted.

"Marissa!" Alexis shouted out over the roar of the crowd and the loud music from the band.

Marissa startled and jumped and bumped into the guy standing next to her.

"Hey, watch it!" the guy said, frowning at her.

"Oh, sorry," Marissa stuttered. She turned away from him and looked over her shoulder again.

"Marissa, what are you doing?" Alexis asked over the noise.

"I don't know. I just… I feel like someone's… watching me," Marissa replied.

Alexis lowered her head and got closer to Marissa. "Oh my gosh. Marissa… Do you see dead people?" she whispered as low as she could and still be able to be heard.

Marissa frowned and hit Alexis on the arm. "Stop it! I'm serious!"

"Oh, take a joke. Marissa, you need to relax. We only have tonight and tomorrow night before we have to go back to that place and see our old friends from _Mackenzie Falls_. And if they haven't changed since the last time we saw them, Chad'll still be single, Jason and Andrew will still be a bunch of jerks, Portlyn an airhead, and Maxine a mouse," Alexis stated, still moving to the beat of the music. "It'll be boring as heck. And right now, you're freaking out while we're at a concert for our favorite band. Settle. Breathe. And watch my stuff. I'll be back in a second."

"Where're you going?" Marissa questioned, taking a step after her friend.

"I want to see if I can find that cute guy we passed on the way to our seats. Please try to enjoy yourself." Alexis hurried away and left Marissa alone in the crowd.

Marissa turned back around to face the stage again, and gasped. "Sorry," she finally said to the dark figure in front of her. Whoever it was, had on a long black hooded robe and was wearing a twisted clown's mask that looked like someone had used to melt crayons over. "It's not every day outside of Halloween you ever get to see a mask quite like that."

The song came to a guitar solo and the fans screamed even louder.

Marissa was jostled forward by another fan jumping up and down and yelling out that she loved Tony (the band's lead singer). Marissa stumbled a few steps and came closer to the figure with the creepy mask.

"So, why are you wearing that awful thing anyway? It's summer," Marissa said, trying to relax.

The figure shrugged without saying a word and took a step closer to Marissa.

She inched back a step cautiously. Something didn't feel right to her. "I think I have to go now," Marissa finally said, turning on her heel.

She was suddenly yanked back by her wrist by the mysterious person.

Marissa struggled again his grip. "Hey, what are you-" Her words were cut off by the feeling of a cool blade pressed lightly to her throat.

"It's time for payback, Marissa."

Marissa started kicking but her scream faded away from the other mingled screams of excitement in the crowd as the knife sliced deeper into her throat.

**--------**

**So, there's that. The ending is about as descriptive as I think it'll get.  
Sorry if the trailer was confusing, I tried to make it less confusing then the last one I made, so we'll see I guess.  
Well, I should get back to writing. I really, really hope I can finish it, **_**and**_** that the power doesn't go out because it's been flickering a little all day. I suppose there's always pencil and paper.  
Have a good Friday! :-)**


	2. Be More Careful

**Happy Halloween everyone! :-)  
So, here is the actual story. It's definitely the first time I've ever written anything like this, so it was actually pretty fun to write something different. I hope you like it. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Sonny with a Chance_ or the Olive Garden. **

**--------**

Chapter One: Be More Careful

Sonny Munroe walked across the college's front lawn for the last time that year. Finals were over and she was free for the summer… for the most part. She still had one last thing to take care of before she'd be entirely free.

In the parking lot she saw one of her friends across the lot getting into their car.

"Tracy!" Sonny called to get her attention.

The girl named Tracy turned and waved when she saw Sonny. "Hey! Have a good summer! I'll see you next year, Sonny!"

"Have fun in Europe!" Sonny smiled, waving back at her.

"Have fun at your thing in California! Let me know if they'll be showing it in Paris so I can tape it!" Tracy joked.

"Ha ha," Sonny fake-laughed, giving a final wave to Tracy and getting into her car.

She'd regretted agreeing to travel all the way from Wisconsin back to California for Condor Studios' big "reunion" of sorts. They were trying to bring all of their "old" shows' stars back to host a big premiere weekend for the new stars and the new shows on Condor Channel. Sonny would have to film the bits they'd put in the commercial breaks and do a photo shoot with the actors from _So Random_,_ Hoosier Girl_,_ The Scene_, and _Mackenzie Falls_. Not exactly on the top of her list of things she wanted to do. Somehow though, she'd been convinced by her mom and friends to do it, and so she'd have to spend tonight packing for the trip.

Sonny turned down the road to her apartment building with a heavy sigh. Going back there wasn't something she wanted to do at all. Especially if a certain someone was also going to be able to make it.

_Just what I need. Someone in my ear constantly asking why I'm still single and haven't dated ever since_-, Sonny's thoughts cut off and she stubbornly set her chin. _Nope. Not going to think about it. _

"Not now anyway," Sonny added aloud as she pulled into the complex's parking lot and parked.

As soon as she opened the door, her roommate and friend, Lisa, was in her face and frantically pulling her inside by the wrist. "Sonny, have you seen the news?" Lisa asked, her words tumbling out in a rush.

"No, why?" Sonny asked. When realization hit her she frowned but still let Lisa drag her over to the TV. "Lisa, I'm telling you, I do not care who that jerk-face is dating now. I'm over him. Hasta la vista, Jerky."

"No it's not that. Someone was murdered last night," Lisa hurriedly said.

"Lisa, I really hate to say this, but is that really anything new in these dark times?"

Lisa pushed Sonny towards the couch and turned the volume up on the TV set. "No, but it's not always someone you knew."

Sonny's eyes flew to the headline running across the screen and frowned. "Uh, another celebrity's dog died?" Her eyebrows quirked up and she smiled quizzically.

"Huh?" Lisa looked at the TV and grabbed the remote with a huff. "Our society today," she mumbled under her breath. "I swear it was on before you came in."

Sonny laughed and set her bag down on the couch while Lisa flipped through the channels until she got to another news station that was actually showing the headline she had been referring to.

"...a previous _Mackenzie Falls_ star was murdered-"

Sonny spun around and stared at the screen in horror.

"-last night in the crowd of a Candlesticks concert," Jane Grace, the reporter onscreen reported grimly.

Lisa watched as Sonny covered her mouth in horror and dropped to a sitting position on the couch and suddenly it dawned on Lisa.

"Sonny, it's not that guy, Cad, who you're still hung up on. It was his costar Marissa Waters," Lisa assured her.

The horror drained from Sonny's face and she gave Lisa a look. "Three things: one, you could've told me that first. Two, I'm not still hung up on him. And three, his name is _Chad_, not Cad."

"I know what I said," Lisa said with her eyebrows raised. "Anyway I just figured since you were friends with _Mackenzie Falls _that you'd want to know about that poor Marissa."

"I wasn't friends with them," Sonny said, shaking her head. "_They _were our rival show. We were friends with the _Hoosier Girl _and _The Scene _casts."

"Oh. How'd I get that mixed up?" Lisa shook her head and looked back at the screen, pointing to it with the end of the remote. "It's still horrible, though."

"Yeah… How could she get killed at a concert though?"

"Well, I know _you_'ve never been to a Candlesticks concert before, but they can get kind of crazy with the screaming fans and all that, so anyone seeing her get stabbed probably thought it was a joke or a stunt or something. Anyway, so this girl was at the concert with her best friend, and she even told her friend that she felt like she was being watched, but her friend didn't take Marissa seriously. So she left for a few minutes and when she came back her friend was dead on the ground. Throat slit, back stabbed," Lisa said with a grimace, slicing an imaginary blade across her throat and then into her back.

Sonny frowned in a grimace as well and looked at the TV screen. "That's horrible. I knew her a little through Chad and she was supposed to be just really nice and soft spoken."

An old scene from the final episode of _Mackenzie Falls_ played on mute in the background of the news show while experts and reporters discussed her death.

"Why would anyone want to kill her?"

----

Later that night, Lisa walked into Sonny's bedroom with a forlorn expression on her face. In her right hand she held a carton of Chocolate Chip ice cream and in her left hand a box of tissues, both hidden behind her back and out of Sonny's line of sight.

Sonny looked up from her half full suitcase and scrambled to throw a purple blouse on top of something in it. She then proceeded to nervously close her suitcase and sit on it. "What's up?" Sonny greeted Lisa overly-casually. "Just packing for the reunion."

"I have some bad news for you, Sonny," Lisa stated sadly.

"What's wrong?" Sonny had to catch herself on the edge of the bed when she started sinking on the top of the flimsy suitcase cover. Finally she simply stood up and kicked the suitcase conspicuously under her bed.

Lisa's mouth twisted down further. "You knew Grady Mitchell right?"

Sonny looked over Lisa's face for any trace of a joke. "Yeah. …Wait, 'knew'?"

Lisa brought out the tissues and ice cream and once Sonny took them she slid two spoons out of her sweatshirt's front pocket.

"He's… dead too?"

Lisa nodded.

----

"So, you're really still going to that stupid reunion thing?"

Portlyn balanced her cell phone, carryon bag, and cup of coffee in her hands as she shuffled over to a seat closest to her terminal.

"Even with Marissa and that kid from _So Random_ both skewered within twenty-four hours?" Jamie McAdams asked in awe. She used to be an actress from the once-popular show, _Hoosier Girl_, and after hearing about the two murders, had opted out on returning for the Condor Channel's Special Premiere Weekend recording and photo shoot.

"I already agreed to it, and besides that, I see no reason to be scared away by that." Portlyn pulled her sunglasses off, figuring it was safe at this point in the airport to take them off for now.

"But… you have to admit, the connection is pretty obvious. They both used to work with us at Condor Studios. Someone else could die," Jamie stated nervously.

"I'm not worried," Portlyn said pointblank. "Besides, these days, you have to be more careful and not leave your friends alone at crazy concerts or in big empty studios. Do you know how Grady died?" She scooted onto the edge of her seat and crossed her legs.

"I didn't hear, no," Jamie responded.

"He was going to make a guest appearance on a new comedy show Condor came up with, was the last to leave the big confusing set full of all those crazy fun house mirrors, turned around, and got stabbed to death. And this time, they found this sick looking clown mask. It looked like a rainbow threw up on it."

"What kind of sick killer would wear a creepy mask like that?" Jamie asked rhetorically. "Sicko," she muttered absentmindedly, reapplying lipstick in front of a mirror.

Portlyn heard a toilet flushing on the other end of the phone and crinkled her eyebrows. "Where are you?"

"Olive Garden bathroom in Lancaster. I'm on a date with Riley Newman. We just finished with dinner and I'm freshening up my makeup."

Portlyn made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. "Ugh, you're still dating him? I thought you dumped that idiot from _The Seasons_ already."

Jamie rolled her eyes lightly. "It was called _The Scene_, Portlyn, and you know it. Riley's not an idiot, either. He's sweet."

"Well, just look out for any psycho killers there, 'kay?" Portlyn said, half-joking.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be sure to run if I see anyone in a demented mask with rainbow puke on it. Bye."

"See you."

Jamie hung up her cell phone but before she could put it away, movement in her peripheral vision got her attention and she looked up to see a medium-sized woman wearing black jeans and a baggy purple jacket. Covering the back of her head and the sides of her face was a colorful purple and blue headscarf that tied under her chin. She was facing the mirror as she took out a regular everyday makeup compact and then reached to take off her black gloves. Jamie exhaled slowly and shook her head. The last two murders had her paranoid.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked suddenly.

Jamie paused, her hand with the cell phone in it halfway to her purse. "Yes?"

"Do you know when this restaurant closes?" she inquired, setting her black gloves down on the edge of the white bathroom sink.

"I'm sorry, I don't," Jamie responded.

"That's alright. I'll ask at the front."

Jamie's cell phone suddenly slipped loose from her fingers and she sighed before she bent down to pick it up.

"Oh, but I do have one more thing to ask you," the woman said sweetly.

Footsteps echoed in the empty public bathroom and black tennis shoes came to a stop right in front of Jamie.

"Yes?"

"_Jamie_, is it…?"

Jamie's pulse started thudding instinctively in her veins as she picked up her cell phone and slowly began to stand up.

"I was just wondering-" A hand reached down and grabbed Jamie by the collar of her shirt, forcing her up to her eye level. "-if you still thought my mask was creepy and demented?"

Jamie gasped as she came face to face with the killer and it's truly horrifying mask that was well hidden under the headscarf from any side but the front. She suddenly noticed something on the killer's bare hand still gripping her collar and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, you're-"

Jamie's words were choked off as the killer drove a knife into her stomach. Her body went lifeless after a few seconds and her cell phone clattered to the tile floor, Jamie sagging to the ground in a heap next to it.

He/she pulled off their mask and stuffed it in their purse before making sure the headscarf was still on tight. Their hand went into the purse, pulled out a pair of large sunglasses and put them on.

The murderer then reached down and grabbed Jamie's abandoned cell phone off the ground. Their fingers looked through Jamie's address book, found Riley Newman's number and sent off a text message to him.

"_Meet me behind the restaurant in two minutes."_**--------**

**Sigh. Yes, I named the band "Candlesticks." I don't know how early or how late it was when I gave the band a name, but whenever it was, it was the first thing that came to mind, and after a while it just sort of stuck.  
Anyway, keep reading on to the second chapter. :-)**


	3. Reunions and Decoys

Chapter Two: Reunions and Decoys

Sonny stood outside the large cluster of buildings that were Condor Studios. She'd just been driven from her hotel in a limousine provided by Mr. Condor, and she was trying to gather the nerve to walk through the front doors and face all of the characters from her relatively recent past. But it had been three years now.

Her hands flexed out of the tight fists she'd been making as she pictured going in and who she would inevitably see and have to spend the next three days with. There was Chad Dylan Cooper to start with.

Her brown eyes rolled at the thought of Chad.

There was also Tawni to face. Not that her and Tawni hadn't been… friends of sorts when _So Random_ got cancelled and they went their own ways. Just the fact that Tawni had been there and witnessed all of Sonny's relationship issues was one reason. Another was that there was no doubt in Sonny's mind that some of the first words out of her mouth would be "how do I look?" and "who are you dating now?" It was simply how Tawni had always been and Sonny doubted three years had done much to help that.

And then there was the cast of _Mackenzie Falls_ to deal with. Things had been rocky to start with between Sonny and the rest of them, but after Sonny and Chad split like shrapnel, icy behavior didn't even begin to cover the way Chad's _Falls_ friends acted towards her.

Sonny rocked back onto the heels of her shoes and looked up at the sky in exasperation, wishing she could just not go into the studio. "Ugh, I can't do this," she muttered under her breath.

"Sonny!" a voice called from behind her.

Sonny rotated her head around and when she saw who it was her face lit up with a big smile. "Zora!" she squealed happily.

Zora had changed a lot in three years. For one, she was taller than Sonny now. Also, her hair was a much darker brown with one strand of hair on the right side of her face dyed lime green and her hair had then cut so it hung to her jaw line. One startling difference to Sonny was that the high-pitched squeak that used to be Zora's voice was now deeper and sounded less like a (devious) mouse, and more like a sixteen year old, young woman. Comfortingly still the same though, was her random taste in style and colors.

A soon as Zora was close enough Sonny threw her arms around her for a much-needed hug.

"I've missed you so much," Sonny said in an excited voice.

"Can't… breathe…" Zora choked out.

"Oh, whoops, sorry," Sonny apologized, releasing Zora.

While Zora tried to subtly straighten the sleeves on her t-shirt Sonny couldn't help feeling overly bubbly again despite all of the trouble going on.

"I'm so happy to see you, Zora. And you're so old now. You're what, sixteen? Wow. Do you have your driver's license?" The words all just poured out of Sonny's mouth as she walked with Zora into the building.

"Yep," Zora said with a grin. "And as soon as I'm old enough and have the time, I'm also getting a special license for driving forklifts and a pilot's license." Her grin widened to show off all her teeth, reminding Sonny of her evil smiles from back in the day.

Sonny chuckled nervously. "Wow, Z. You in control of a car, forklift, and airplane… That's kind of a scary thought."

Zora raised her eyebrows and nodded. "I know."

"You really haven't changed much, have you?" Sonny observed as they reached the main office and entrance for Condor Studios.

"Not at all."

"Still got a cold cut catapult?"

"It works with basketballs now."

"Wow…" Sonny said in shock. "It feels good to be back," she finally said with a wide smile.

"What do you _mean _there's some psycho killer on the loose?!"

Sonny and Zora turned at the only voice they knew of that got especially whiny when she was scared or upset.

"Tawni," Sonny and Zora said together.

Skipping hello hugs altogether, Tawni whirled around and marched over to her old friends. Sonny could see herself flinching as she took a step back in the reflection of Tawni's sunglasses.

"Did you know about all of the murders?" Tawni questioned intensely.

"Yeah, there've been four. Marissa, Riley, Jamie, and Grady," Zora responded, her mouth turning down into a frown at the thought of Grady and the other three victims.

Tawni frowned also and crossed her arms with a huff over her chest. "So, let me get this straight. I came to a stupid reunion special so Condor Studios can make more money off my talent only to find out that there's some psychotic killer that's doing away with people from Condor Studios?" Tawni shrieked, her voice climbing towards dog whistle pitch with every word.

Zora and Sonny merely nodded at Tawni.

"Well this is horrible! I packed white clothes to wear!" She pulled off her sunglasses and pointed the folded up pair at Sonny. "Do you know how awful blood looks on white clothes?" Tawni's face crumpled and she let out a whimper. "I don't want to die!"

"Tawni, you're not going to get any blood on your white clothes, or any of your clothes. You'll be fine. We'll all be fine," Sonny reassured her. She hoped that Tawni wouldn't ask how she knew all of this, since she didn't. At all.

Tawni took a few moments to recollect herself, breathing in slowly with a troubled look on her face. Finally she looked back up at Sonny and Zora. She opened her mouth to say something but snapped it closed when she saw Nico outside through the glass doors getting out of a limousine. "So, Grady… is gone?" she checked.

Sonny swallowed and answered her "yes."

"Does Nico know?"

"I don't know, probably… Maybe…"

All three of them exchanged a look.

Tawni held her hands up defensively and took a step back. "Well I'm not good with tears or people in my bubble, so… _not it_!" she yelled, turning and speed walking away down the hall to Stage One, where she'd been told they were all supposed to go.

"Not it!" Zora shouted as well, following after Tawni.

Sonny's mouth opened in half horror and half shock. "Hey, wait a minute! I don't want to tell him if he doesn't already know!" Hurrying to catch up to them, Sonny quickly walked out of the front entry room and towards the hall. "I want a do over! Not it!"

Sonny rounded the corner and smacked into something hard, biting down on the inside of her mouth and almost drawing blood. She'd hit Chad Dylan Cooper. Well… sort of.

While rubbing the outside of her right cheek even though it did nothing to help, she stepped back and found herself looking at the airbrushed face of a Chad cardboard cutout. She soon found what had kept her from falling and knocking the cutout over when the real Chad appeared from behind his other, cardboard self.

Chad raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw who had nearly crushed his "ingenious" decoy. "Sonny," he stated, his surprise leaking into his tone.

"Chad," Sonny said, her tone mirroring the sound of his. She moved her hand away from her cheek and shoved it into her jeans pocket. "Hi."

"Hi," Chad replied in a voice that still sounded uncomfortable.

"What is this?" Sonny gestured to the cardboard cutout standing on her right side and tapped the paper arm with one knuckle.

"Oh this. My CDC Decoy," Chad stated proudly, breaking out of his awkwardness at seeing Sonny again.

Sonny couldn't help snorting at the official sounding name Chad even had for it. "Is that patented?"

"I figure if I just carry this double around with me and stand it up any place in the room that I'm not, if the killer is looking for me, hopefully they'll find this guy first and cut his head off instead of mine," he explained logically, tapping the shoulder of it lightly with the back of his hand while he spoke.

"And you really think that'll work?" Sonny questioned doubtfully.

"I'm willing to try anything at this point. It wasn't until I was on a plane to this stupid thing that I heard two old ladies talking about all of the murders going on." Chad rolled his eyes and picked his cardboard cutout up and carried it sideways as he walked down the hall towards Stage One.

Sonny followed him, figuring it would probably look stupid of her to go outside and take the long way to Stage One just to avoid walking with Chad. "And you were standing directly behind that thing because…?"

"I had to stop and tie my shoe."

"Oh."

With their original topic out of the way, there was suddenly silence between them.

Knowing they would have to get small talk out of the way sooner or later, she continued looking straight ahead as she asked him "so how have you been?"

"Good," Chad replied, relatively pleasantly. "How's the college thing working out?" His acting was proven not half bad since only a third of how bitter he felt came out in his tone during that one question.

"Good. And movies for you?" she asked back, nicely.

"Good. Dating life?" Chad threw out there.

Sonny raised her chin a little and pursed her lips. "Fine. Yours?"

"Fine," he said curtly. "Not that it's any of your business," he muttered.

"Well, you brought it up. I was getting ready to fill you in on Wisconsin weather until you jumped in on dating." Sonny looked over at him in annoyance and saw that his expression was as annoyed looking as hers.

"Fine. How's the weather?"

"Fine," she snapped back.

"Good."

"Good."

There was a tense pause in their conversation as they continued walking through the hall at a relatively slow pace.

"You act like I have no reason to be upset," Chad finally grumbled without looking at Sonny.

"That's because you don't," Sonny replied shortly and they both came to a sudden stop when they walked through the doors of Stage One.

Chad turned towards Sonny with an incredulous and irritated look on his face, but was still careful to not hit her in the side with the life sized cutout Chad. "Oh, really, Sonny? _Really_? I have _no _reason at all to be upset?"

"That's right. You don't," Sonny said, her voice raising in volume a little.

Chad narrowed his eyes and smiled bitterly at Sonny, shaking his head in disbelief. "You just suddenly packed up and moved away. You _ran_ away."

"I told you I was leaving and it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise to you anyway. You knew why I was leaving," Sonny stated without showing any remorse.

"And do you think maybe the reason you left was why I was a little upset? I mean _come on_, Sonny, I…" Chad rolled his eyes up at the ceiling and then decided to not finish his sentence when he noticed most of the people in the room were shamelessly listening to their argument. "Okay, forget it. Have a nice life, Sonny."

"Fine," Sonny said curtly. "Have a _great_ life!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both turned away and stormed off to different sides of the large stage.

Off to the side, Zora smirked at Sonny and Chad while Tawni brought out a bottle of hand sanitizer and squirted a big glop into her palm.

"Some things never change," Zora observed thoughtfully, not having picked up on the fact that this fight was more serious than the others used to be.

"I'll say. This place is still just as germy as ever. Ugh." Tawni shuddered delicately and rubbed the sanitizing solution in quickly.

----

"Okay people listen up," Mr. Condor announced. Once he had complete silence, he did the equivalent of a smile for when he wasn't looking at his precious daughter. "Thank you all for coming out here for the Condor Channel's Special Premiere Weekend taping and photo shoot. Now I know you all know about the recent murders of four individuals. Marissa Beckett, Grady Mitchell, Riley Newman, and Jamie McAdams, all of whom used to work here, and two had very recently been working here at Condor Studios. I also know that some of you are concerned by the connection between all of their deaths being their previous workplace, and who are now worried that you're in danger now."

Sonny looked up from her shoes and started paying closer attention.

Mr. Condor clasped his hands together and looked around at the faces of his past star actors from Condor Studios' four most popular shows three years ago. "I can assure you though that you are not in any danger here. We have security stationed throughout the studio. However, I must ask as a precautionary that you not wander off on your own far away from the group-"

Two boys from _Mackenzie Falls_ rolled their eyes.

"-and to use the buddy system when you're in Condor Studios, and outside of Condor Studios, again, just as a precautionary," Mr. Condor continued, oblivious to the eye rolls and the groans about "being treated like babies."

Tawni turned to her right to make a comment to Zora but when she looked, Zora was gone and the life sized cutout of Chad was in her place. Startling, she jumped and hastily stepped forward to see what it was since it was facing her sideways. When she saw Chad's face she rolled her eyes and pushed it away with disgust.

"Now the studio has changed a little bit as a few of you already know. Recently, we had a bit of a problem with a freak accident and the roof caving in on Stage Three, where _So Random_ used to shoot, so for safety reasons, I'm required to tell you all to not go into Stage Three. If you have any questions ask our new head of security, Murphy Malone." Mr. Condor didn't bother pointing out Murphy wherever he was. "And now I'll turn you all over to the capable hands of your director and executive producer for the next three days." He turned around with one arm extended to gesture towards them, but there wasn't anyone standing where everyone could guess they were supposed to be at this point in Condor's speech.

No one dared snicker at something that Mr. Condor didn't plan well enough, but plenty of them wanted to.

"Alex! Marshall!" Mr. Condor snapped to somewhere behind the large green screen set up behind a slew of comfortable looking chairs and couches.

Sonny, Tawni, Zora, and Nico all brightened a little at the sound of their old producer's name.

Alex and Marshall came from the opposite direction Mr. Condor was expecting, instead walking away from the Kraft service table. Alex had a piece of cheese in his hand while Marshall reluctantly had a piece of celery, though the powdered sugar dusting on his chin and tie indicated he'd ditched the donuts at the last second.

"Marshall!" Sonny blurted excitedly.

"Hey, kiddo," Marshall greeted, waving the celery stick in the air.

Mr. Condor had a look on his face that looked like he was thinking something like "_and this is my crack staff?" _while he glanced from Marshall to Alex and then at the easily excitable Sonny, practically hopping from seeing her old producer.

"Alright, get to work," Mr. Condor finally commanded, marching off the set with his personal body guards following after him.

Everyone immediately scattered, pretending they all had something important to do right that second while they were still under the scrutinizing eye of Mr. Condor.

----

"So don't touch that remote," Sonny said in a cheery voice while sitting comfortably on the small couch positioned right next to Chad Dylan Cooper.

"Because _Sally with a Choice _will be right back," Chad added in, flashing a toothy grin at the camera.

"And so will we while we hang out during the Condor Channel's Special Premiere Weekend," Sonny finished, resisting the urge to flinch or flip him over when Chad casually laid his arm over the back of her seat.

The two held their smiles for five more seconds until their director, Alex, finally called "cut."

Immediately, Sonny sat up and away from Chad's arm with a disgruntled expression Tawni could read from across the room while Chad scooted quickly away from Sonny.

Tawni hurried over to Sonny, practically pulling her arm out of its socket as she dragged her off the set and the next rotation of stars went up there to tape a part.

"Jason and Andrew left," Tawni rushed out once they were by the empty Kraft service table.

"The two other guys from _Mackenzie Falls_?" Sonny checked, glancing out of the corners of her eyes for the boys.

"Yes. They left like thirty minutes ago because they said they doubted any killer could be after them, and when Cameron asked them about that, they said they'd prove it. So they told us they were going to the old stage, our stage, and were going to 'prove it' to us," Tawni frantically said.

Sonny's eyes grew wider with shock and she gripped the edge of the table. "How stupid could they be? How many people have to die before they realize this is serious?" She turned away from Tawni and headed for the closest security guard with Tawni on her heels.

"I don't know but they've been gone a really long time now." Tawni's eyes widened even more than Sonny's suddenly. "Do you think they're dead, Sonny?"

Sonny slowed down and glanced over her shoulder at Tawni. "Uh…" she hedged.

"Do you think we're going to die? Sonny." Tawni broke her own bubble rule and gripped Sonny's arm to stop her. Sonny came to a stop and looked at Tawni, seeing the plain fear in her eyes. "I'm scared, and I don't want to die. I'm too young to die. Aren't you scared too?"

Sonny opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of Cameron's loud screaming by the stage entrance.

Sonny and Tawni turned to look, realizing they were the last to realize the commotion going on around them. Jason was standing in the doorway in front of Cameron, and from where Sonny was standing, his palms and shirt were red, though he looked unharmed. Several security guards rushed through the door, most likely in the direction of Stage Three.

Sonny's heart sped up as she watched Cameron start sobbing into her hands. Her head fit the puzzle pieces together quickly and felt like screaming herself when she found the solution.

Cameron had screamed and was now sobbing. Jason had blood on his hands and his shirt, but didn't look injured, meaning it was probably someone else's blood. Andrew, Cameron's boyfriend, wasn't anywhere to be seen. All of this could only mean-

"Andrew's dead," Tawni whispered in shock.


	4. Had to Get the Curling Iron

Chapter Three: Had to Get the Curling Iron

Sonny sat with her legs crossed on a plastic folding chair seated at a white and black polka dot table with Zora and Nico occupying two of the other three seats. She watched with a look of concern at Tawni sitting on a pink blanket on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest and her arms hugging her knees. She was rocking back and forth on the floor, for once not caring how crazy she looked, staring straight ahead of her at the wall.

Nico looked again at his watch and tapped it twice with is index finger to make sure it was still working. "Man, I'm hungry! It's been thirty minutes already!" he complained, not even paying attention to Tawni anymore.

Sonny pushed her hair out of her face. "Tawni, it's going to be fine. Andrew and Jason were being stupid. They were showing off at the worst possible time ever. We'll be fine."

Tawni's wide blue eyes didn't leave the spot on the wall. "No we won't. One of us is going to die next," she stated without flinching and void of emotion.

"What makes you think that?" Sonny's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion and she uncrossed her legs so she could lean down closer to Tawni.

"Where is that pizza?" Nico asked no one in particular. "Heh. If Grady were here his stomach would be growling so loud we wouldn't be able to concentrate," he observed fondly of his past best friend.

"They really should get those pencils unstuck from the ceiling," Zora commented with her head angled up towards said ceiling.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tawni finally shifted her gaze and looked to her left at Sonny. She completely ignored the extra chatter from Nico and Zora before she could talk. "There's a pattern, and _So Random_ is next."

"What?" Shock spread across Sonny's face and she hopped off her chair to join Tawni on the floor.

Tawni nodded once. "First was Marissa from _Mackenzie Falls_, then Grady from _So Random_, Jamie from _Hoosier Girl_, Riley from _The Scene_, and now Andrew from _Mackenzie Falls_. Either that or Riley, then Jamie. But whatever way it was… it's our turn again next," she said bleakly.

"Wow, Tawni. How'd you make that connection so fast?" Sonny wasn't used to Tawni being the first one to spot a pattern or figure anything out that didn't involve fashion, first.

"It's not rocket science, Sonny," she said, resorting back to her normal "duh" tone.

Sonny tried not to be offended by that as she shook her head and pressed on. "But you know it could've just been a fluke that Andrew was killed in the pattern order."

Tawni met Sonny's gaze and half-glared at her. "You really want to wait and see if it was just a fluke?"

"Okay, okay, we probably should tell Mr. Condor about this."

Murphy suddenly walked in carrying a large pizza box in the palm of his left hand. "So how's everyone holding up?" he asked in his slightly nasal voice, for once sounding the tiniest bit compassionate.

"Hungry."

"Bored."

"Scared."

"Nervous."

"Well good, then. You know though, it'd probably be a lot smarter of all of you to just leave now while you have a chance. You don't get a second chance at life, you know. Who knows? I may not see one of you tomorrow if you stay," Murphy said seriously, still balancing the pizza in his hand.

Tawni looked away from Murphy, fell down sideways on the blanket, and curled into the fetal position. The rest of them just stared up at Murphy, wondering if this was supposed to be encouraging.

"I mean, I'm just glad I'm only a security guard here. If I were an actor I'd be on the next plane out. And if you all were smart, you'd do the same," Murphy said, suddenly taking on a harsher tone. He dropped the pizza down in front of them on the tabletop with a loud smack before he laughed and walked away.

Not even Nico or Zora dove into the pizza like they'd been planning to.

"Sonny?" Tawni addressed in a muffled voice.

"Yes?" Sonny stood up on her knees so she could at least see the side of Tawni's face.

"What does it feel like to have a nervous breakdown?"

Sonny stared at Tawni for a minute before she got to her feet and pointed to the door with one finger. "I'll go tell Mr. Condor about the pattern."

Zora grabbed a slice of pizza out of the box and followed after her. "I'll come with."

"Thanks, Zora," Sonny said once they were out in the hallway. She turned her head towards Zora while she spoke. "You know, maybe Murphy's right and we really should go-" She rotated her head to face forward again. "Aah!" Sonny shrieked when she saw the Chad cutout only inches away from her face _again_. Glaring at the piece of cardboard, Sonny batted it out of the way and continued walking down the hall with Zora.

----

Within an hour that day, each past member of _So Random_ had two guards trailing after them, _wherever _they went.

On their second day of taping the special, Sonny pivoted around with a forced smile on her face and looked at her two body guards, Dan and Larry. "Alright guys, I'm going into hair and makeup," she said in a faux cheery voice.

Dan and Larry nodded and each took a step forward when Sonny started backing up into the tiny, box of a room.

"In this tiny room," Sonny hinted sweetly. "With one entrance," she had to add after ten seconds of silence. "And no possible way for any killers to get in except this one entrance…"

Dan and Larry stared at her blankly, not budging from their places.

Sonny finally sighed and gave up the roundabout approach. "You guys can just wait outside the door."

Dan and Larry reluctantly peered inside the room to check to make sure there weren't any killers in the room. All they found was the Condor-approved hair stylist/makeup artist standing behind the styling chair with a curling iron in her hand. There was nowhere for the psycho killer to hide in the room since all it contained was a counter with beauty supplies on it, a large mirror on the wall, and the chair. On the walls were a few taped up movie posters and one large framed picture on one wall. No hiding places.

Accepting Sonny's proposal, Dan and Larry assumed posts on either side of the door.

"I'll scream if I need you," Sonny assured them. "Don't worry. I have a really loud scream." Closing the door behind her with a soft click, she heaved a sigh of relief and closed her eyes. Lately, she'd been feeling strangled (no pun intended) by having dear Dan and Larry follow her everywhere she went. And it had only been a day and a half.

"Don't you worry about having to scream, sweetie. You're perfectly safe in this hole in the wall," the makeup and hair woman said reassuringly. "Now, you just sit on down. My name is Clarissa."

Sonny sat down heavily on the chair and watched Clarissa start brushing her hair and then curling it with the curling iron in the mirror.

Clarissa wrapped a long strand of Sonny's hair around the hot iron and started counting in her head to ten. She released her hair from around the iron but then suddenly sneezed loudly and Sonny could see how close the hot curling iron came to burning her skin by watching Clarissa's movements in the mirror. She went rigid in her seat and Clarissa gasped.

"Oh, shoot, sorry, sweetie. I'm just getting over a cold. Won't happen again."

"It's okay," Sonny said weakly.

She curled Sonny's last piece of hair and patted her shoulder. "All right, sweetie, let me just spray you down with hair spray and then you'll be done." Clarissa turned off and set down the curling iron, then scanned the counter for the hair spray but came up empty. "Shoot. Macy must've taken it to work on that Murray girl. I'll be right back with the spray, don't move an inch," she ordered.

As soon as Clarissa had left and shut the door behind her, the room became too quiet for Sonny's tastes. The sound of Clarissa either chewing gum or humming off-key had been a good silence filler, and now all there was, was the sound of Sonny's breathing.

She tried filling the silence herself by drumming her fingers against the counter, which did work for about a minute. Her breathing accelerated when a small squeak echoed through the boxy room, though. A few seconds passed and Sonny held her breath looking intently at the fresh polish on her fingernails. She finally sighed in disgust and buried her head in her hands. She hated feeling so darn paranoid.

_Pull yourself together, Sonny_, she told herself.

Sonny reassured herself for several more seconds, shaking her head at how shaken up she'd become with this… situation. She couldn't help honestly wondering who was next. What if it _was_ her?

_No, stop it! You've got freaking body guards going with you everywhere! No one can get to you!_

Sonny massaged her forehead and just wished that none of this had ever happened. But oh, how ideal that would be.

She finally lifted her head away from her cold hands and gazed at the assorted makeup spread out in front of her.

A flicker of motion in her peripheral vision caused Sonny to instinctively lift her eyes up to stare past her reflection in the mirror. The good loud scream that she'd been saying she had stuck in her abruptly dry throat.

Standing no more than five feet behind her was a figure wearing a long black hooded robe and a horrific and colorful clown's mask over their face. It was the killer.

Barely even breathing, Sonny jumped off her perch on the stool and stood with her back facing the mirror. So this was how it would end? Spliced to death with two bodyguards standing outside, completely clueless of her murder?

Sonny's mind reeled for a solution. Bodyguards around or no bodyguards, she couldn't just be helpless. _Okay, okay. Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Fight or flight? _Flight was out since the killer could easily make it to the door at the same time she did and could slit her throat before she could even beg for help. Fight was all she had left after that. That and dying.

A second had passed, and in the next second, the killer raised their hand up and revealed a glimmering knife.

Her subconscious found her voice as she let out a loud crystal-shattering scream as an instinct.

Sonny turned her head away to find the first item that could be used as a weapon. The first thing her eyes lit on was the purple curling iron. It'd have to do since the only other weapon around was a brush. She snatched it up into her fingers and held it up, ready to hit him over the head with it, but the killer was gone. Vanished completely within seconds. How could that be? She hadn't imagined it… Had she?

The concerned body guards standing in front of her suddenly registered in her mind, along with the feeling of warm fingers undoing her steel grip on the handle of the curling iron.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Dan asked quickly.

"The killer. The killer was in here with me and had a knife…" The words spilled out of her in a rush. "He was here, and was going to kill me, and I turned away for one second to get something I could hit him with and then he was gone!"

"How did he get in?" Larry questioned seriously.

"I don't know. He was just suddenly there one minute and then gone the next," Sonny rushed out, feeling a little hysterical. _I saw him. I'm not seeing things. Unless… No! I'm not seeing things! _

----

Fumbling, Sonny took her room cardkey out of her pocket and in her hurry to get inside, shoved it into the slot upside down. A line formed in the middle of her forehead as she pulled it back out in and slid it in the right side this time. The little light on the handle stayed red instead of turning green when it was unlocked. She jiggled the handle and tried again but no luck.

Sonny frowned disapprovingly at the piece of plastic in her hand. _Why'd you have to demagnetize today?_

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Sonny whirled around with her empty hand held out ready to strike and instinctively flinched when she felt her hand make contact with something and a slapping sound followed.

"Ouch! Jeez, Sonny, what was that for?" Chad yelped, holding a hand over his stinging cheek. He glanced suspiciously around when he heard light snickers coming from somewhere in the hallway.

Sonny's eyes widened and she reached out helplessly, finally letting her hands fall to her sides. "Sorry. But you know I've been through the wringer today, so you shouldn't have snuck up on me. I was in self defense mode."

"I thought you had bodyguards. Where're they?" Chad demanded, sounding surprisingly protective.

Sonny rolled her eyes and pointed to a couple of potted plants on opposite ends of the short hallway where Dan and Larry were staked out until Sonny left the hall and went somewhere else.

Chad snorted. "And those are the guys you want protecting you?"

"It's not like I hired them," Sonny retorted. "So, how's your cheek?"

"I think you bruised it."

"Chad, please. I'll have been lucky to have left a mark. I didn't even hit you very hard," Sonny said while she waited for Chad to move his hand already.

"Yeah, right," he responded sarcastically. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away from his cheek.

Sonny gave it a quick onceover. "Eh, it's fine. Like I said, there's barely a red mark that'll go away pretty soon."

"Great," Chad said with sarcasm saturating his tone again. "Thanks for the assault."

"No problem."

"Speaking of assault, I heard about the killer in your room. So, what exactly happened there?" Chad questioned, already sounding to Sonny like he doubted her word. "He was suddenly in there even with your bodyguards watching you at the only entrance, you look away for whatever reason, and when you look back, he's gone…?"

"Well, I had to get the curling iron!" Sonny said defensively, throwing her hands in the air. "And it's true!"

"I didn't say it wasn't, it just sounds very unlikely." Chad innocently held his hands, palms facing the ceiling, and shrugged his shoulders.

"I know what I saw," Sonny said intensely. "The killer was just suddenly in the makeup room, and I looked away for one second and when I looked back he was…" Her sentence trailed off as she studied his face while she'd been talking. "You don't believe me."

"Well, I mean… How'd he get in? Is there some other entrance or are those two bodyguards of yours taking gum breaks when they shouldn't?" He shrugged nonchalantly again, watching Sonny's disapproving, upset face stare him down. "I'm not saying you made it up. Maybe you're just… stressed."

"I'm not stressed. I'm _fine_," Sonny insisted, jabbing her useless cardkey in the air. "And I'm not seeing things."

"Never said you were," Chad said with a smirk. "You made that jump by yourself."

Sonny crossed her arms indignantly over her chest. "He was there. Wow, you know, time really hasn't changed you at all. You're still just as jerky as the day I met you and you stole my frozen yogurt."

"If I was such a jerk, why'd you date me?" he retorted.

"Oh, you didn't read any of the magazines?" she questioned sarcastically. "I was young and naïve and still trying to find the good in everyone. Besides, you weren't a jerk for about six months and then it was like some horror movie. _Return of the Jerk-face._"

----

Meanwhile, Tawni was walking through the halls of the studio with her two bodyguards trailing along with her on their way to lunch outside of the studio.

"…so that's why I decided I'd just wear this cute white and pink top. I mean, it's not like Sonny knows everything, but I figure, as long as I have bodyguards, there shouldn't be a reason for me to get blood on this. Unless someone shoots me." Tawni cocked her head to the side and kept walking. "Are you two trained to take a bullet for me? You should." She held up her index finger in the air to make her point as she said this.

Tawni clutched the sides of her head with her hands and groaned. "I'm getting a headache from all of this. My old friend is dead along with four other people…" Tawni suddenly turned to the taller one on her right. "Do you think you could find me some Cocoa Moco Cocoa lip gloss? I need something to soothe my nerves and calm my-"

Tawni let out a gust of air as one of her bodyguards, Ricky, suddenly yanked her back and the other one, Dewey, stepped part of the way in front of her in a defensive position. Her heart felt like it was in her throat as she practically drew blood digging her nails stressfully into Ricky's arm.

"What? What's going on?" Tawni whispered in a panic.

"Darn it!" Dewey exclaimed. "Another one! Stay here with her, I'll check the area! Call for backup!"

"Got it!" Ricky put his arm around Tawni's shoulders protectively and got out his cell phone.

"What?" Tawni squeaked. Then she saw the body of Brian Kress lying on the floor splattered with blood and she breathed in an unsteady breath, bringing a shaky hand to cover her mouth. It was the only thing to keep her from screaming out loud.

----

"Well, you did always hate horror movies," Chad commented cheekily.

Sonny raised her eyebrows at him and smiled wryly. "That I do. If I didn't already know I wouldn't have bodyguards in Wisconsin I'd be on the next plane out of this horror movie that's now my life." Sonny paused for a minute, just looking at Chad with her lips pursed. "So, yeah, _Return of the Jerk-face _was not something I enjoyed. And so now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the front desk with Dan and Larry and get this darn card magnetized again."

"You actually trust those guys?" Chad asked, angling his thumb towards one of the potted plants a few feet down the hall from them. "They seem like a bunch of goofballs to me. _I _could protect you better than them."

"Is that an offer?" Sonny questioned sarcastically.

"Why? Interested?"

"Not after _The Return of the Jerk-face_ sequel yesterday, thank you very much." Sonny walked around Chad down the hall, and Larry and Dan quickly followed.

"Chad!" Portlyn suddenly called from the other end of the long hallway.

Chad and Sonny both turned at the sound of her voice.

"Someone else is dead," Portlyn announced, walking closer to them with her cell phone held loosely in her left hand.

Sonny bit her lip and braced herself for the name of one of her friends. Nico? Zora? Tawni?

"It wasn't someone from _So Random_," Portlyn said, still in shock. "It was Brian Kress from _Hoosier Girl_. Stabbed outside a bathroom in the hallway and found by Tawni and her guards. Stabbed like, four times. Really gruesome."

Sonny frowned, her eyebrows wrinkling in pain and she pushed her hair back from her face. Another friend stabbed to death. When would it end?

**--------**

**Unfortunately, that's all I've got for today. I have about half of chapter four done, but I still have to finish it and the rest of this story. Which I will do as fast as possible since I really want to finish my first murder mystery/horror. I really did try to finish it for today. I stayed up writing last night until like, three in the morning with _Scream _1-3 on in the background the whole time. I wrote a little today also, but not much. What can I say? I tried.  
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to post chapter four tomorrow, but if I don't, it'll be because I was too sick from all the sugar today to move. ;-) Kidding.  
Okay. Happy Halloween! :-)**


	5. The Writing's On the Mirror

Chapter Four: The Writing's on the Mirror

Her heart beat at an out of control pace as Sonny raced away from the person that was chasing her. Cardboard trees, abandoned backpacks, and an expensive water fountain all rushed by in a blur as Sonny ran past them. The familiar set morphed into a hallway as she made a sharp turn at the corner.

Risking having to see the killer running behind her, Sonny looked over her shoulder as she sprinted but the hallway was empty. And very dark every time the lights flickered off every few seconds.

The hallway disappeared behind her as she finally came to a sudden stop in front of a cardboard school building (another part of a set) and standing tied up, unable to move, and in front of the fake school were Chad and Dakota Condor.

She ran quickly over to them, to try and untie them, but a hand stopped her, pulling her back by the arm.

_Oh no_, Sonny thought, her pulse racing even more.

She attempted to struggle away from the firm grip, even going so far as to stomp on the killer's feet as hard as she could several times, until a knife came up to her throat as a threat. Her body went still as she resigned herself to defeat.

_It's all over_, she thought. But first…

"Who are you?" Sonny questioned tensely of the killer hidden behind her back.

The killer chuckled darkly. "You'll never know."

Sonny jolted awake from her nightmare with a start. No one noticed Sonny regaining consciousness as they were all too involved in their conversation to really pay attention.

_Wow_, Sonny thought, sitting up straighter on the couch. _Freaky-scary nightmare_.

"This is getting freaking crazy. Six people have been killed, and it's been, what? Three days? Four days? This killer is a freaking maniac with either a twisted mind or a purpose," Jake, an actor from _The Scene_ stated seriously.

All of the remaining actors were holed up in Stage One's lounge guarded by the security while the police investigated Brian's murder. Several of the actors were only listening to the in-depth conversation about the situation at hand.

Sonny was curled up on a couch and sandwiched between Nico and Zora while Tawni was wrapped up in Sonny's borrowed Blarmie the Blanket with Arms and huddled next to Nico on the end of the couch. Portlyn was on one of the stuffed chairs next to their couch with her legs crisscrossed on the seat, Chad perched on the arm of Portlyn's chair.

"Well what the heck would the purpose be? What's the connection other than this studio?" Cameron asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Seriously. It couldn't be for revenge. Who would get so ticked at this many people from Condor Studios? Other than a psychopath?" Drew threw in.

"Which it's pretty darn clear from the murder count that we _are_ dealing with a psychopath here," Portlyn said in a "duh" tone, looking at everyone around their loose circle.

"Okay," Jake agreed easily. "So let's say that is who we're dealing with. Someone who's a little off their rocker and is easily ticked. That still doesn't explain who this is. How could _all _of these people make this killer mad enough to murder? How could they _all _know this maniac?"

"Crazed fan gone too far?" Drew suggested.

"Possibly." Cameron pointed towards Drew and nodded in agreement.

"Desperate news reporter, maybe," Jake suggested. "Creating a story?"

"At least now we know there isn't any pattern," Sonny muttered.

"Pattern, there's a pattern?" Portlyn asked, her head perking up with Sonny's sudden comment. Once again, she'd been out of the loop. She whipped her head to her right past Chad to look at Sonny.

"No, there isn't anymore," Zora finally spoke up. "There used to be, but not anymore."

Tawni finally started easing her arms out of the Blarmie's sleeves and uncurling herself from her rigid position.

With all eyes on her and her group of friends, Sonny spoke again. "Age doesn't matter, gender doesn't matter, and past TV show we worked on doesn't matter either," Sonny stated grimly. "There isn't any specific order or anything."

Tawni dropped the Blarmie into her lap and stared at Sonny. "So, what this killer is killing just to kill? Wait, wait, so does that mean that even though I'm pretty, I could still be killed?" Tawni whispered out.

Zora and Sonny both nodded yes at Tawni.

Tawni grabbed the Blarmie the Blanket with Arms off her lap and threw it over her head, wrapping herself in it and hiding under it like it was a fuzzy, cloth cave.

"In that case, I should probably leave," Chad said egotistically, pointing to the door.

Sonny rolled her eyes. "Careful, Chad. One more narcissistic remark like that and your head may just explode from the size of your astronomical ego."

A few people "oohed" from Sonny's remark.

Chad's only response was to shake his head and narrow his eyes at Sonny.

"So there's no pattern, only one connection we know of to link them all together, and no clues or evidence," Jake said, getting the conversation back on track.

Chad continued glaring in what appeared to be Sonny's direction, but was really Nico's as Nico innocently rested his arm on the couch's back behind Sonny's head.

Jake continued on, looking at everyone in the room. "Put these all together and we have one messed up and scary situation."

* * *

Later that night, Sonny sat curled up on the tan recliner in the corner while Dan and Larry, who were ordered to stay with Sonny for the night, were on the edge of the couch watching a football game with great intensity. Sonny flipped open the most abused book she owned to the first page. The front cover on the book was torn at the corners and the binding on the poor book was shot. The most distinctive injury that stood out though was the long dent on the front cover where it had hit the corner of the wall after being thrown in an angry fit.

When she got to the dedication page she stopped aimlessly turning the pages and read it again. At the top was the author's dedication, thanking her sister, Emily, for helping her get the book published, and at the bottom was something that had been added in about three and a half years ago in black Sharpie.

"_Hopefully after you read this my charming good looks and personality will still be appealing to you. Just don't expect me to act anything like the guy in here does. Happy 17th Birthday. –Chad"_

Sonny pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling. She wished she hadn't brought it with her, but she'd had no choice at the time. Sonny'd been looking at it while she was packing for this trip and when Lisa had walked in, she had to cover it up and after that she forgot it was in her suitcase. It was her birthday gift from Chad a few days before he suddenly started getting cryptic and touchy with everything she did, which eventually led to the split. Following that was the announcement that _So Random_, _Mackenzie Falls, Hoosier Girl_, and _The Scene_ were getting taken off because most of their actors were too old. From there, Sonny decided to move back to Wisconsin with her mom, finish High School, and then go to college.

She turned to the Prologue and read through the words without them even registering in her brain. Finally, she gave up trying to be busy because now instead of obsessing over the killer out to kill all of her old friends and possibly herself, she was obsessing over the whole Chad fiasco three years ago. One step forward, two steps back. Closing her book with a soft thud, Sonny abandoned it on the coffee table and stood up.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Sonny told her bodyguards.

They nodded their acknowledgment to her without taking their eyes off the TV screen.

Sonny walked into the bathroom a few feet away from the living room. Flipping on the light switch, Sonny sighed and got ready to turn on the shower water when something that looked off registered in Sonny's peripheral sight. She whirled to her left towards the mirror and bit down hard on her tongue to keep from screaming because written all over the large mirror in drippy, purple letters were two words. "You're next."

Without daring to check behind the shower curtain for the killer, Sonny fled from the bathroom, and frantically told Dan and Larry about what she just saw.

While the two guards went to check in all of the hotel rooms, Sonny fumbled with her phone's buttons, trying to call her mom, or Zora, but accidentally pushed Tawni's name to dial.

_Oh well_, Sonny thought as she listened to the phone ringing. _I'd have to tell Tawni anyway._

"Hello?" Tawni mumbled into the phone. Sonny could hear soothing piano music in the background.

"Tawni, I- I just found writing on my bathroom mirror. I'm n- next," Sonny stuttered out.

"What?" Tawni yelled.

There was a pause, and to Sonny, it sounded like Tawni was running.

"Tawni, what are you doing?" Sonny questioned when there was eerie silence on the other end of the phone.

The next sound that throbbed in Sonny's ear was Tawni's screaming.

Holding the phone farther away from her ear, Sonny waited until her scream died down to speak. "Tawni, Tawni, what is it? Did something happen?"

"I'm next, too," Tawni told her in a whisper while her own bodyguards searched the room.

No one else had been told beforehand when they were next to die. Why were Sonny and Tawni the exceptions? What was so different about them? Why would the killer want them to know?

* * *

Tawni and Sonny stood at the center of the cluster of stars for all of the group shots in the photo shoot. It was the very last day they would have to do anything for the Condor Channel's Weekend Premiere Special, and everyone was on edge. Even the photographer, who had somehow not been informed of all the murder drama centered on Condor Studios and its stars until he arrived with his camera and equipment, was nervous as he took his position behind the camera. When they were all standing still and lined up, Sonny and Tawni were still in the center with Nico and Zora on Tawni's other side and Chad and Portlyn on Sonny's other side.

The photo shoot started with a lot of usual people missing from the equation. For instance, the photographer's assistants _had_ been informed of the murder epidemic and had conveniently gotten too sick to go. There was also Marshall, who was supposed to be there but had gotten stuck in a traffic jam and no one knew when he'd be there. The only people in the room (on Stage One) were the bodyguards, the stars, and the photographer.

After taking several pictures of everyone giving only their serious faces, the photographer decided to try and coax everyone into smiling for the camera. If he had to, he'd pull out his stuffed animals and squeaky toys that he sometimes used on the little kids and toddlers. "Alright everyone, smile, now," he said in a fake cheerful voice. It wasn't that he was unhappy with his current photo subjects. He just found it hard to be happy in a place with more chalk drawings on the floor than the elementary playground.

The actors all tried their hardest to smile, most them coming out as grimaces or cheesy, closed-lip smiles.

The photographer wrinkled his eyebrows as he automatically took a couple of shots of that. "Alright, now give me your real, 100 watt smiles. Come on guys. Really blow the fuses with those bright smiles of yours." He forced a laugh out while they all tried harder to make their "bright" smiles believable to the happy-go-lucky Condor Channel viewers.

Sonny swallowed her fear and put on her toothiest grin while Chad casually leaned his elbow on Sonny's shoulder, the pictures of ease.

No sooner had the last person cracked a smile did the all of the lights abruptly shut off with a loud click.

Tawni was the first to set the pandemonium in motion as she clutched at the sides of her face, covered up her ears, and shrieked in fear into the darkness. Everyone, even the photographer, couldn't help but follow suit as they were all swallowed by the thick darkness. Sonny couldn't believe she'd never noticed how pitch blackness actually did feel almost solid, like a substance hanging in the air. With everyone's combined screams of terror, the density of the darkness kicked up a notch and Sonny started feeling strangled, grabbing onto the person to her left's arm.

Outside, it was a bright and sunny California day. Inside, however, what with there being no windows to allow any warm summer light onto Stage One gave the impression that it was the dead of a dark, dark night.

Tawni abruptly took her hands off her face and instead, threw them around Sonny, still forcing air out of her mouth in the form of a harsh sounding scream. Chad huddled more into the person on his right while he felt what was probably Portlyn's hand grabbing onto his.

"Okay, now everyone just- just stay calm," the photographer tried to instruct while he continued to cling to his camera like his life depended on it.

The sound of loud, frantic footsteps pounding on the floor in an uneven rhythm and a dragging noise made everyone freak out even more.

"Mother!" the photographer yelled, joining back in with the panicked frenzy. He made to duck down by the base of his camera's stand and accidentally hit his elbow down hard on the camera button twice, sending two brief flashes of bright light out from the camera to illuminate a small part of the room.

"I don't want to be next!" Tawni yelled into the darkness as she clung to Sonny like saran wrap.

Sonny gave the general direction she'd heard Tawni's voice come from a look. "We're both next!" she shouted over the chaos.

"You first!" Tawni screamed back, as someone accidentally rammed into her from the side and pushed Sonny, Chad, and Portlyn to the right along with her.

Cardboard Chad stood alone in the corner, a sitting target with his ultra whitened smile and happy double thumbs up.

And as quickly as they'd disappeared, all of the lights flicked back on and brightened the room comfortably again. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and for some, realized just who they'd latched on to for protection in the dark.

Sonny looked down and immediately dropped Chad's arm, taking a step back with Tawni's arms still constricting around her torso.

"That's it! That is _it_!" Cameron exclaimed, breaking the silence. "I cannot take any more of this! I am _not_ working under these conditions! Even Mr. Condor isn't here for crying out loud! I'm leaving!"

Sonny was barely listening to her. Her paranoid search and headcount of everyone turned panicked as she whipped around with Tawni still shaking and very much attached to her at the hip. "Wait, wait, where're Nico and Zora?"

There was silence as everyone else looked around for the actors with their eyes but didn't find them anywhere in the room.

"They're gone," Portlyn was the first to state emotionlessly.

Sonny broke the silent pause in the room by saying "Okay, then, let's go" and causing everyone to jump and startle.

"Go where?" Drew asked, puzzled.

"Well, we have to try and find them," Sonny said bluntly and completely serious.

More chaos broke out as suddenly everyone in the room started talking at once at Sonny. Words like "are you crazy," "I'm not staying," and "where would we even look" spilled out of all of the actors' mouths.

Meanwhile, their photographer staggered up from the ground and started getting ready to pack up his equipment. Now there were kidnappings. He was so out of there. He paused in reaching out to snap his laptop closed. On the screen were a few of the recent pictures he'd taken with his camera, four were for the photo shoot, and two had been accidents.

"Stop!" Sonny shouted over everyone, and effectively silenced them all. "We can't just pick up and leave when two people were just taken away right under our noses."

"Good gravy," the photographer uttered, staring in shock at his laptop screen.

"What's wrong?" Sonny questioned him, trying to casually squirm away from Tawni's hold on her.

He pointed at his computer screen and everyone shuffled over to gather around and see. "It looks like I accidentally snapped a few pictures in the dark," the photographer said uneasily.

Sonny's eyes widened along with many others as they stared at the pictures.

The first shot the camera had captured showed Zora standing alone in the darkness, an empty space where Nico should have been standing. The second picture showed a black gloved hand covering up Zora's mouth and forcing her back by pulling on her arms.

"So… the killer has them," Portlyn stated, once again the first to find her voice.

"Well, there is absolutely no way I'm sticking around now!" Cameron declared, on her way to the door.

Several others hesitantly started following her lead.

Feeling a spark of outrage at the betrayal, Sonny ran after them, stopping them all at the door. "No, no, no, you guys. What are you doing? You- you can't just- you're not really just going to let this go are you? Two people were just kidnapped and you're leaving?!"

"Of course we're not going to just let this go," Maxine, from _Mackenzie Falls_, said in a small voice. "We call the police and tell them just as soon as we get out of this war zone."

"But they could be too late. Please stay. You have to- No please don't!" Sonny protested as people started filtering out the door past her.

"Sorry, Sonny," Drew apologized on the way out the door. "But this is way out of our league. The police can handle this."

"Uh, clearly they can't since they don't even have any leads!"

"Sorry."

Sonny racked her brains, jumping up and down when her idea came to her. "But how do you know you'll be safe if you leave now? What if the killer comes after you all? Don't forget! There's safety in numbers! So we should stick together! All of our shows and the bodyguards!" she exclaimed desperately, pointing back into the room where the photo shoot setup was. The camera and its equipment however, were quickly being packed up.

Chad stood, watching Sonny trying to convince everyone to stay and help, in the middle of the room with Portlyn and Tawni still there also. Portlyn was listening as well, while Tawni just looked a little shell-shocked at everything that had been happening.

The six bodyguards that had been hired and were still sticking out hanging around Condor Studios held their ground in their various posts around the room.

Alexis paused and a few people walking right behind her rammed into her back at the sudden stop. "She's right," Alexis concluded.

Sonny smiled, relieved.

Alexis reached into her purse, pulled out a large wad of money held together by an old, silver money clip and held it up for the guards to see. "The bodyguards come with us."

Sonny gaped at Alexis, unable to believe that this could really be happening. Her friends had been kidnapped, and now the only six people left who could possibly help at all in this situation were being bribed away with money. "What?" Sonny sputtered out.

"But we were hired to protect them," Larry responded, pointing towards Sonny and Tawni.

"Every bodyguard that comes with me gets a thousand dollars each, per day," Alexis stated clearly, holding up her large sum of money and walking out the door. She already knew that all six of the bodyguards would leave their posts immediately and follow after her. Being offered a lesser chance of getting killed and more money was an offer they apparently couldn't refuse.

"No!" Tawni cried out as she watched her only protection shuffle after Alexis and everyone else. "I'm too young and pretty to die!"

Portlyn rolled her eyes at that remark.

Sonny looked helplessly now as the last person filed out the door and left the last few people willing to at least try and do something to help Zora and Nico. They were a small group, with possibly no hope of being able to help Nico and Zora at all.

"So… what now?"

* * *

**Yep. Nico and Zora were kidnapped. And don't hate Alexis too much for stealing the bodyguards. She was just a prop to my plot. Halfway through writing this, I realized, uh duh, they're going to have bodyguards in the room so they won't be completely alone once everyone else leaves. Then I needed a way to get the bodyguards out of the room, thus, the spoiled, bribing Alexis moment happened.  
As usual, thanks for reading. :-)**

**--UPDATE – April 29, 2010—  
I'm sorry, but this story is now on permanent hiatus. If you're dying to know who the killer is or anything, PM me and I'd be happy to tell you.  
There's a **_**very**_** slim chance I'll finish this when Halloween rolls around again. We'll see.  
Again, sorry. Thank you for reading this far. **


End file.
